Bonetti wrote:There's also a trial client that streams the data as needed, I have no idea how well that works, what it takes to convert to non-streaming, or if it even works with non-trial accounts.

Total aside, but since we had discussed installation at one point...

The current Cataclysm beta is a streaming client. If you're on a decent connection, you only need to download about 2G of the 13G install footprint to play (and the launcher can continue downloading in between sessions). Mind you, if you start too early, you can have real trouble zoning into some areas while all the required data is streamed, but it does become playable quite a bit earlier. I don't know if they're planning this for the general client or not.

(Once you hit about 40%, the only places that really suck are populated cities, just because so many of the player gear models need to be streamed and that slows the streaming of the city geometry, which means you may have temporary magic restraining walls while the next patch of terrain loads. It would probably be better if one were on cable and chose to not stream video in the background while playing )